By Nika Shakhnazarova and Andrea Herb
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
Health insurance plans for county employees would cover one years-worth of birth control pills under a resolution being considered by the Baltimore County Council.
The measure, which will come up at the council’s May 24 meeting, asks that the county administration seek changes in current health care policies so that a county employee could receive a prescription for contraceptives for up to 12 months without having to pay out of pocket costs.
Under current health insurance policies offered by the county, employees can receive up to a 90-day supply of contraception drugs before their co-pay kicks in.
The resolution was introduced by Council member Tom Quirk, D-First District, during a meeting on Tuesday.
According to the resolution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that unintended pregnancy rates remain high in the U.S., with approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies being unintended.
Quirk said research has shown a 30-percent reduction in the odds of unintended pregnancy and a 46-percent reduction in the odds of abortion when women receive a one-year supply of the contraceptive pills compared to only a one- to three-month supply.
Quirk said he is asking the administration to fast-track the negotiations for new health plans because he believes it is good public policy.
“It’s important for Baltimore County to lead the way so that hopefully other counties will also copy this because this is an issue that we need to go after not only at the state level,” Quirk said.
Quirk’s proposal was supported by four public speakers who attended the meeting.
Darlene Hindz-Jackson, a Baltimore County-based nurse of 14 years, said birth control should be made more readily available for county employees.
“This resolution puts in place a mechanism of birth control, and to prevent and to allow access to birth control much easier than it presently is,” Hindz-Jackson said.
“This is the reality of people’s lives and when we look at recommendations of the most effective ways to prevent pregnancy is to dispense 12 months at a time,” said Kelly Rudis, a certified nurse and midwife for 19 years. “I think it makes realistic sense and fiscal sense for a family to choose their own spacing of pregnancies, rather than having unintended pregnancy.”
Robyn Elliott of Planned Parenthood said Baltimore County would not be the first to consider expanding health coverage for contraceptives.
“Twelve other states have done this through legislation, and as of last week, one other state has done this through executive order,” Elliott said. “Last Tuesday, Connecticut passed legislation and it is currently awaiting the governor’s signature. It is definitely a trend that we are seeing across the country.”
Elliott said she was speaking on behalf of the American Association of University Women and the Consumer Health First.
Maryland Planned Parenthood CEO Karen Nelson also supported the bill.
“I think this is important because this resolution will help to create greater access to birth control for the county workers, and we applaud the County Council for being so forward-thinking and caring for their staff that work for them and for the people in their county,” Nelson said in an interview.
The council is also considering a resolution that would allow the county to accept a donation of 10,000 drug pouches that can be used to neutralize the active ingredients in medications that have expired or are being thrown away.
The donation of the Deterra Drug Deactivation System, valued at $60,000, would be made by the Leidos Corp. of Reston, Virginia. The pouches would be another tool for the county to fight the opioid crisis, according to county documents.
According to Deterra’s website, prescription medications are placed in the pouches, which dissolve the drug’s active ingredients with activated carbon, which absorbs the pills and renders them “inert and irretrievable.”
Gregory Branch, the director of the county’s Health and Human Services Department, urged the council to accept the donation.
Branch said the pouches would be distributed to the community at Naloxone trainings, health centers, and other county events.
“If you can’t get to a drug box, then we can bring the drug box to you,” Branch said.
Council member Todd Crandell, R-Seventh District, raised concerns about the environmental effects of the pouches.
Branch said that once the pouches have been used, it is completely safe to throw them away in a regular garbage bin. Branch also said that the environmental concerns of flushing unused medication down the toilet are much greater than the waste from the deactivation pouches.
In other action, the council will consider a bill proposed by Council member Wade Kach, R- Fifth District, that would amend a 2015 bill that established regulations for the location of medical cannabis dispensaries.
Currently, dispensaries are prohibited from being located within 500 feet of elementary, middle, or high schools, and may not be within 2,500 feet of another dispensary.
The proposed bill would prohibit medical cannabis dispensaries from being located within 500 feet of a day care center.